Step two · The line map
Ten days, and a written list of what not to build.
Two weeks watching the real work, timed.
What it is
Measured, not estimated
We sit with the people who actually do the work, time the steps, follow the data to where it really lives, and come back with your decisions ranked by what they cost and how buildable they are. You get a build list, a do not build list, and the reason for each. It is yours either way.
The assessment tells you roughly what assembly costs. The line map adds what a short set of questions cannot: numbers from watching the work, a feasibility judgment per decision, and a written list of what not to build. If you start a build sprint within 90 days of the readout, the full fee comes off the sprint price.
- Price
- $3,500 to $7,000
- Terms
- Credited against a build
- How long
- Ten working days
What you get back
- Up to 8 interviews and 3 timed walkthroughs
- 8 to 12 mapped and scored decision lines
- Build first, fix first and do not build lists
- A written report and a 60 minute readout
The ten days
Day by day, so nobody wonders where we are
Day 1
Kickoff
Confirm scope, name candidate decisions, agree who we interview by name, request read only access, set the readout date.
Days 2 to 4
Interviews
Five to eight sessions of 45 minutes. Decision owners and preparers separately, never a manager in the room while an operator describes their own work.
Day 5
Walkthroughs
Watch real instances, timed. Not a demo, not a tidied example. This is where the honest numbers come from.
Days 6 to 7
Map and score
One line map per decision, scored against the rubric. The do not build list gets drafted first, so every recommendation has to survive it.
Day 8
Validate
Send the numbers back to whoever gave them. Ten minutes that makes every figure defensible for a year.
Days 9 to 10
Write and read out
A written report and a 60 minute readout with the sponsor and the people who took part.
Scope
In and out, in writing
This is the scope that goes in the engagement terms. If something you need is on the right hand list, say so before we start and we will price it or tell you it belongs in a sprint.
Included
- One 60 minute kickoff with the sponsor
- Up to 8 interviews of 45 minutes
- Up to 3 observed, timed walkthroughs
- 8 to 12 mapped and scored decision lines
- Baseline validation with the people who gave the numbers
- A written report, 15 to 25 pages, not a deck
- One 60 minute readout
Not included
- Building, configuring or piloting anything
- Changes to systems or access, including procurement
- Vendor selection beyond category
- Processes outside the functions agreed at kickoff
- A second readout to a different audience
Questions
Before you ask
What happens if the line map says build nothing?
You get that in writing, with the reason for each decision we ruled out, and we do not propose a sprint. The fee has still bought you a measured map of where your team's time goes and a do not build list you can hand to the next person who pitches you software.
How much of my team's time does a line map take?
Ten working days on our side. On yours it is a 60 minute kickoff with the sponsor, up to eight interviews of 45 minutes, up to three timed walkthroughs of work people were going to do anyway, and a 60 minute readout. We do not ask anyone to prepare anything.
Is the line map fee credited if we build?
Yes. If you start a build sprint within 90 days of the readout, the full line map fee comes off the sprint price. If you do not, you keep the report, the maps and the do not build list.
Why watch the work instead of just asking?
Because people are reliably wrong about how long their own preparation takes, almost always low. Ask an estimator how long a bid or no bid decision takes and they will say two minutes, which is true of the decision and not of the forty minutes in front of it. Timed walkthroughs are where the honest numbers come from.
Talk to us
Bring one decision. We will map it in twenty minutes.
Before you commit to two weeks, spend twenty minutes. Tell us one thing your team decides most weeks and we will walk it backwards on a call until we find where the time is. If there is nothing there we will tell you.